Why do so few patients appeal against detention under section 2 of the Mental Health Act?

BMJ 1995;310:1195-1196 (6 May)

Letters

Why do so few patients appeal against detention under section 2 of the Mental Health Act?

Rate of appeal may be higher elsewhere

EDITOR,--Caroline Bradley and colleagues conclude that if patientswere fully informed of their rights they would be more likelyto appeal against detention under section 2 of the Mental HealthAct 1983: they found that 104 of 384 subjects appealed.¹ Wecarried out an audit of subjects detained under section 2 atHollymoor Hospital, Birmingham, between August 1992 and July1994. The hospital served a population of 350 000. Altogether255 patients had been detained under section 2, of whom 35 appealedagainst their section. Our results are significantly differentfrom Bradley and colleagues' (P<0.001, {chi} ²=10.589, 1 df). Thiscould be a type 2 error. The diagnostic groups in the two studiescould be different. Our analysis was based on a longer periodand a large catchment population. Hence the two samples shouldnot be that different. Bradley and colleagues included all those. . . [Full text of this article]